NHWSG chapter 62

Some gossip, if it’s not told by someone who knows the inside story, outsiders would probably never guess the truth no matter how hard they tried.

At least at this moment, that’s what Sheng Zhao thought.

Before coming to Mount Longhu, whether from Xing Yingzhu’s mouth or from Baidu Baike, he had a rough understanding of the Zhang family’s faction, knew about their rise to power, and had read a lot of esoteric gossip from public accounts.

But what he never expected was that the ancestor of the Zhang family, who ascended to immortality, did not learn the heavenly arts from the heavens as the esoteric gossip said, and then ascended to immortality after coolly slaying demons and monsters, but rather went through three lifetimes before finally understanding the truth and ascending the ladder to heaven.

The visual effect of being the chosen one versus working hard for three lifetimes was quite different. Sheng Zhao’s gaze subconsciously passed over Zhang Chengde’s shoulder and looked at the portrait in the inner room, not understanding why such a powerful figure would fail for two whole lifetimes.

“Because the ancestor initially took the wrong path,” Zhang Chengde said, “In his first life, he slew demons and monsters without hesitation, but when he was about to ascend to immortality, he was informed by the heavens that his hands were too stained with blood, so he couldn’t become immortal.”

“I remember this incident,” Sheng Zhao said, “So, when it was my turn in the previous life, I locked all the demons in the Locking Demon Tower.”

“You know one side of the story, but not the other,” Zhang Chengde said, “In the ancestor’s second life of cultivation, he did change his ways. Instead of indiscriminate killing, he tried to convert them. If he encountered evil spirits, regardless of good or evil, he would capture them and confine them in Mount Longhu, teaching and converting them every day.”

“Convert… what?” Sheng Zhao asked blankly.

“Convert their demonic energy,” Zhang Chengde said, “Hoping they would abandon evil and embrace goodness, discard their demonic nature, and follow the right path.”

Sheng Zhao: “…”

I probably just lack understanding in this life, Sheng Zhao thought, I completely don’t get this concept.

“Did it succeed?” Sheng Zhao couldn’t help but ask.

“…No,” Zhang Chengde said truthfully.

It couldn’t succeed indeed, Sheng Zhao thought. In essence, those demons were born as beasts, and after gaining intelligence, they became monsters. No matter how you convert them, you can’t turn them into humans.

Even if you reversed it, let alone turning demons into humans, even if you took a person and recited scriptures to them every day, they wouldn’t turn into demons.

Zhang Chengde didn’t notice Sheng Zhao’s silent complaints, he continued, “And in this life, the ancestor didn’t create more karma, but when he finally ascended, he still couldn’t succeed.”

“Why?” Sheng Zhao asked.

He asked this question sincerely, full of doubts—If killing wasn’t allowed, going against the path of compassion, so he couldn’t become immortal, he could understand that, but why couldn’t he succeed even without killing?

This time, Zhang Chengde didn’t give the answer. He smiled slightly, looked at Sheng Zhao meaningfully, and said, “At that time, the ancestor was also puzzled, constantly enlightening himself, but still couldn’t understand the mystery. And this answer was unraveled by you in your last moments in the previous life.”

“Me?” Sheng Zhao pointed to himself, this time truly completely confused by what he said.

“At that time, when you were approaching the end of your life, you brought a list to the ancestor,” Zhang Chengde said, “You asked him to agree to a request after you died.”

At this point in Zhang Chengde’s words, Sheng Zhao suddenly felt a pain in his heart for no reason, a sense of melancholy almost instantly enveloped him, making him instinctively feel that what was coming next wouldn’t be good news.

Sure enough, Zhang Chengde continued, “The list in your hand was a list of some of the demons in the Locking Demon Tower. You asked the ancestor to kill those demons according to this list after you died.”

Sheng Zhao: “…”

In almost an instant, Sheng Zhao remembered the little rabbit demon in the illusion.

—I don’t know if it’s among them, Sheng Zhao thought.

Actually, by this point, Sheng Zhao had already understood. The names on the list in his hand at the time should have been those “evil” demons.

An eye for an eye, a life for a life, it’s illegal to treat “good” and “evil” on the same level, so it’s inherently wrong.

But those “evil” demons might have been murderers, or they might have just been some “mistaken” demons. Sheng Zhao wasn’t Wen Sheng, and he didn’t know what his criteria were.

But just based on the fleeting glimpse he had in the illusion, each demon in the tower trusted him, liked him. No matter whose name was written on that list, to them, it was a betrayal.

Sheng Zhao didn’t understand what “owing a favor” meant. He just wanted to understand this point, and he felt overwhelmingly guilty and heartbroken.

In an instant, he asked himself in his heart, wondering if he felt this heartache when Wen Sheng went to Zhang Daoling with the list in the last life.

Sheng Zhao didn’t ask Zhang Chengde about what happened afterward because, according to the implications from his words, since that ancestor was enlightened, it must have been true.

…And then he became immortal in the third lifetime.

Sheng Zhao closed his eyes, not really wanting to hear more. All the messy doubts in his mind disappeared in an instant, leaving only a sense of shame.

If he hadn’t had the thought of the Locking Demon Tower, even if Zhang Chengde clearly told him that “Wen Sheng” was his past life, Sheng Zhao could have treated it as an unrelated story.

But precisely because of the encounter with the Locking Demon Tower, everything became different.

The illusion was fake, but in that moment, Sheng Zhao touched the true emotions of his past life.

His attitude towards gossip suddenly diminished a lot, and he could only awkwardly plaster a polite plastic smile on his face and not ask any more questions.

Zhang Chengde could see that he wasn’t feeling well, and didn’t want to continue talking, so he kindly stopped the conversation, asked him to stand up, and walked out together.

“These things, it’s enough for you to have heard them, no need to dwell on them,” Zhang Chengde said. “The matters of the past life are over; living this life well is what matters.”

Sheng Zhao knew Zhang Chengde was trying to comfort him, and he wanted to accept that comfort, but emotionally, he couldn’t quite manage it.

“Thank you, Master Zhang,” Sheng Zhao said, “But I… I’d like to walk around by myself for a while, is that okay?”

“Of course,” Zhang Chengde said. “Please feel free.”

Sheng Zhao sighed, feeling dejected, looking like a wilted little chicken. He wandered aimlessly nearby, and somehow ended up by a cliff.

The scenery in the mountains was beautiful, although the sky was misty, the air was fresh, and just standing outside for a while could greatly broaden one’s state of mind.

Although Sheng Zhao didn’t really doubt himself about the matters of his past life, his mood was indeed not good. In fact, he even forgot to ask Zhang Chengde what the “life-saving grace” meant.

But fortunately, besides Zhang Chengde, he also had a living history book by his side.

“Not feeling happy?”

Sheng Zhao snapped out of his daze to find that Xing Yingzhuo had woken up at some point, emerged from his sleeve, and was now standing beside him.

“You heard?” Sheng Zhao was a bit surprised. “I thought you were resting.”

“I woke up a while ago,” Xing Yingzhu said, with a faint expression, turning his head to look at him for a moment, then teasingly pinching his cheek, “Look, the corners of your mouth are drooping to the ground.”

Sheng Zhao forced a smile.

Although he often embarrassed himself in front of Xing Yingzhuo, he still didn’t want to appear as if he were complaining in front of him. So, avoiding Xing Yingzhuo’s gaze, he said, “I was just thinking, why someone so capable couldn’t figure out such a simple principle—can’t kill everyone, can’t keep everyone, different situations require different approaches. Why couldn’t they think of that?”

“Haven’t you heard, three mediocre cobblers surpassing Zhuge Liang?” Xing Yingzhu said. “Capable people tend to be arrogant, so in his first life, he did as he pleased. But that didn’t work out, so in his second life, he was stuck in that ‘not working’ and couldn’t get out. Enlightenment is like that, they say once you understand it, it’s like a sudden revelation, but it’s just that people tend to get caught up in details. Whenever they break free, that’s when they understand.”

“Indeed,” Sheng Zhao said. “That makes sense.”

But Xing Yingzhuo could see through his perfunctory attitude. He squinted slightly, applied a little force under his hand, and grasped Sheng Zhao’s chin, forcing him to look at him.

“Is there anything else? Speak up,” Xing Yingzhu said.

Sheng Zhao flinched under his gaze. He always felt that Xing Yingzhuo could see through people’s hearts, and he felt a bit guilty lying in front of him, even though he hadn’t said anything yet.

So he hesitated for a moment, but then spoke the truth. “Actually, nothing much, I just feel that this behavior isn’t quite right.”

“Although it’s correct in theory, it’s not quite right in practice,” Sheng Zhao said, afraid that Xing Yingzhu would think he was making a big deal out of nothing, so he hurriedly added, “How should I put it… I suddenly feel a bit guilty.”

“Guilty about what?” Xing Yingzhu asked back. “That they don’t like you, or don’t want you?”

Sheng Zhao was stunned by his question.

“You’re feeling guilty when you see those little guys happy to see you?” Xing Yingzhu chuckled and said, “Moreover, what could Zhang Chengde know about things from eight hundred years ago? If you want to know about these things, it’s better to ask me than him.”

Sheng Zhao’s eyes lit up.

Right! In terms of gossip and secrets, what Xing Yingzhuo said was obviously more authoritative.

“Then tell me—” Sheng Zhao said, “Why didn’t they blame me for betraying them in my past life?”

But Xing Yingzhuo’s little classroom was randomly intermittent. He looked Sheng Zhao up and down, obviously having no intention of telling him a story right now.

A mountain breeze brushed through the valley, rustling the leaves. Sheng Zhao didn’t notice, but there was a hint of bloodshot in Xing Yingzhu’s eyes, quietly creeping up.

“I’ll tell you this story later,” Xing Yingzhu said.

“Now—”

Before Sheng Zhao could ask what he was doing now, he suddenly felt Xing Yingzhu’s hand unexpectedly hooking his belt, and he was violently pulled back.

Caught off guard, Sheng Zhao staggered, stepping back into Xing Yingzhu’s arms. With one hand around his waist, Xing Yingzhu exerted force, swiftly retreating several steps.

Before Sheng Zhao could react, Xing Yingzhu had already pulled him to the edge of the cliff, and then, with one step, Sheng Zhao fell off the cliff!

With inertia carrying him downward rapidly, Sheng Zhao’s heart leaped into his throat. Before he could even scream, he felt the hand around his waist suddenly tighten.

—He was caught by Xing Yingzhu.

But half a second’s breathing room was enough for Sheng Zhao to react belatedly in horror. He instinctively clung to the only lifeline beside him, tightly wrapping his hands around Xing Yingzhu’s neck, tremblingly turning his head to look at him, unable to utter a single word.

However scary it was, after the instinctive fear passed, Sheng Zhao immediately reacted—after all, it was impossible for Xing Yingzhuo to actually throw him from the sky.

With the wind lifting Xing Yingzhuo’s hair and clothes slightly, he held Sheng Zhao with one hand. For some reason, maybe because of Sheng Zhao’s pitiful appearance, or for some other reason, he actually laughed a couple of times.

“Now?” Xing Yingzhuo, with his free hand, pinched Sheng Zhao’s chin, turned his face, then affectionately leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, chuckling, “For now, let me entertain you.”